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TODAY'S PERSONAL FINANCE STORIES

If you've been subjected to job discrimination, harassment, wrongful dismissal or hazardous working conditions, good lucking suing your employer from now on. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that employers can force new hires to sign mandatory arbitration "agreements," effectively eliminating the workers' right to sue for grievances. While arbitrators are allowed to award punitive damages just like juries, critics say they are far less likely to, meaning egregious behavior goes unpunished. Here's what the court's ruling means and what to look for before you take your next job. Elsewhere, the latest customer-satisfaction rankings found declining service has joined the growing list of consumer complaints against U.S. airlines. Anyone who's entered the estate-planning stage of life should consider two practices that can help increase the amount of money shielded from Uncle Sam's grab. The U.S. housing market is showing signs of falling back into balance as the spring sales season arrives. And if you're thinking about taking the IRS up on its offer to charge your overdue taxes to a credit card, consider the costs. All this, plus our daily Stockpickers column, Tax Tip and Marshall Loeb's Money Tip, in today's Personal Finance pages.

Workers rights is starting to sound like an oxymoron...

Chris Pummer, Personal Finance Editor, cpummer@marketwatch.com

Barred from suing

San Francisco: If you have a beef with your employer, it's becoming more difficult to present your side of the story in court. In a wide-reaching interpretation of a 76-year old law, the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that employers can force workers to take their job-related disputes to arbitration rather than to court.

Delta tops airline quality ranking

Washington: Delta Air Lines might want to keep the champagne on ice for now. Although a university study ranked the nation's third-largest airline tops in quality for 2000, the study also found all the major airlines' customer service is still plagued by gridlock, poor management and the drive for profitability.

De-value your inheritance

Hampton Roads, Va. For many American families, the grief over a loved-one's death often turns to anger when they learn how much taxes will reduce their inheritance. Two estate-planning practices can prevent such shocking surprises. Valuation and minority discounting techniques have proven effective for transferring wealth between generations to minimize estate taxes.

Housing market shows little signs of cooling

Chicago: The crocuses are coming up and the Ciscos are heading down. The housing market appears oblivious to both. Despite fears that home sales and prices would flame out in the backwash of falling stocks and economic uncertainty, real estate agents around the country say housing should still come up roses this spring.

Paying taxes with credit cards

San Francisco: A few years after its introduction, the option of paying tax liabilities with credit cards is coming of age. Three companies -- Discover, MasterCard and American Express -- are promoting card payment for IRS debts as Americans increasingly use plastic to amass frequent flier miles, discounts and perks.

Buying opportunity amidst bad news

Los Angeles: Two more companies bite the bullet: DuPont said Monday that it's cutting 4,300 jobs while I2 Technologies may cut up to 10 percent of its workforce. The old and new economy companies, the latest in a string of corporate casualties, cite slowing demand amid a U.S. economic downturn. While news of weakening business is hardly welcomed by investors, they can take comfort that the lay offs aren't the result of an internal corporate problem but rather shorter-term macroeconomic factors.

USAA fund strikes the right balance

There's more to charity than donations

North Palm Beach, Fla.: If you thought your tax deduction for charitable contributions ended when you dropped that box of clothing off at the Salvation Army, think again. You may be cheating yourself of some deductions.

Marshall Loeb's Daily Money Tip

New York: There are two main types of life insurance: term and cash value. If you choose term, you get low-cost, plain-vanilla insurance. It is pure protection, but it builds up no cash value that you can draw out in the future. You can get one of a couple of different types of term policies.

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